A lump caught in my throat, and I swallowed it. Lowering my head, I kissed her, and her arms slid around my neck, pulling us close. I couldn’t promise her forever, but I’d give her everything I had in the time she was here.
“Just promise me one thing,” I whispered as we drew back a little. “When we do see Titania, do not, under any circumstances, make any kind of a bargain with her.” Kenzie raised a teasing eyebrow, but I stayed serious. “I’m not kidding, Mackenzie. Promise me you won’t say anything when we meet Titania. She can’t screw you over in a faery word game if you don’t say anything to her.”
Her eyes flashed. “You make it sound like I’ve never bargained with faeries before. I seem to recall doing just fine.”
“I know.” I tightened my grip on her. “I know I’m being overbearing and overprotective again. But just this once, for my sanity, promise you won’t talk to her. Please.”
“Oh, fine,” Kenzie huffed, rolling her eyes. “Just this once, then. I promise I won’t say anything. But is she really that awful?”
“You have no idea,” I muttered. “Leanansidhe was bad enough, but the Queen of the Seelie Court? She’s the epitome of everything I hate about the fey. She’ll trick you into becoming a deer or a rosebush, just because she can. Because she thinks it’s amusing.”
“He’s right, unfortunately.”
We broke apart as Keirran stepped out of the trees several yards away, Annwyl close behind him. The Summer faery looked almost normal now, bright and solid with no hint of the transparency that had nearly killed her. The amulet pulsed at her throat, causing a chill to creep up my spine when I looked at it. Keirran, I noted, moved a bit stiffly, favoring his right side, but other than that, he seemed fine.
“So,” he said, looking at each of us, “we are going to see Titania.” He winced, and on his shoulder, Razor gave a worried buzz. “That’s going to be...interesting. At least if Oberon is there, he’ll be able to rein her in somewhat. But I think we’re still going to have to deal with Titania herself.” He glanced at me, frowning. “Are you sure you’re okay with this, Ethan?”
“Trust me, I think getting a root canal would rank higher on my list of things to do,” I muttered. “But I think Kenzie is right. The only way to permanently stop the Fade is if Annwyl goes home. And the only way she can go home is if Titania raises the exile.”
“You won’t get her to change her mind,” Annwyl said softly. “Not for free. Not without making some kind of bargain, if she decides to change it at all.”
“We won’t know unless we try,” Keirran said, sounding determined. “And we’re out of options. Titania will let you come back. I can be very persistent.”
“I have a better idea,” whispered a cold, familiar voice, and a figure turned out of nowhere, smiling at us across the glade. “Why don’t you let the girl come with me, and we can return to Phaed together?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RETURN TO THE NEVERNEVER
“Who are you?”
Keirran’s voice had changed again. Soft and lethal, it raised the hair on my arms as the prince drew his sword and stepped in front of Annwyl, his cold gaze on the faery across from us.
“That is unimportant,” the Thin Man said, smiling at us from profile. One pale eye fastened on me. “I have been waiting for you to return, Ethan Chase. I was hoping the Summer girl would have disappeared by now, but it seems you have found something that has temporarily halted the Fade. And now she lingers on in the world. A grievous mistake, I’m afraid.”
Keirran shot me a glance. “Ethan? You know this faery?”
“We’ve met,” I growled, pulling my own swords. “Right before he tried to kill me and kidnap Annwyl.”
“Not true, not true,” the Forgotten said, holding up an impossibly thin finger. “I wish to return things to the natural order. You have seen the state of the Forgotten, yes? How they are being twisted and used for dark purposes. It is his fault,” the Thin Man continued, pointing at Keirran, who straightened, “for forcing their Lady to seek alternate methods of survival. They are no longer allowed to drain the magic of normal fey, so they must turn to new sources of glamour.”
“That was necessary,” Keirran argued, though he sounded a little shaken. “I couldn’t allow any more exiles to be killed. I know the Forgotten are only trying to survive, but taking the lives of others wasn’t the way.”
“The Forgotten are not supposed to be in this world at all!” the Thin Man snapped, narrowing his pale eye at the Iron Prince. “They were forgotten for a reason and must accept that their fate is to Fade from existence. Whether or not this is fair, they are not supposed to be here, to exist, on this side of the Veil. You have disturbed the balance, Iron Prince. Just as your father did, years ago.”
What? I stared at Keirran, shocked. Was he talking about Ash? How? I’d never heard Meghan mention that before. But the Iron Prince nodded grimly, his expression dark.
“I know,” he whispered. “The Lady told me.”
“Then you should know,” the Thin Man went on, “that I am only trying to fix things. To put right the chaos your father began when he and his companions came tromping merrily through my town. I knew I should never have let them go. I shall alter that mistake right now.”
I shook myself out of my shock and gripped my weapons. “I hate to break it to you, pal, but if you think you’re going to take Annwyl, you’ve got another think coming.”
The Thin Man looked at me sadly.
“No, Ethan Chase. It is far too late for that. Her life has become irreversibly tangled with yours and that of the Iron Prince. I can no longer simply cut her string without severing all the threads around her.” He held up one hand, gripping a thin silver blade. Like its owner, I couldn’t even see it except from the side. Razor hissed, baring his teeth, and the Thin Man smiled. “I am afraid I must remove you all from the tapestry.”
Keirran and I didn’t wait. As if on cue, we both lunged forward, slashing at the Thin Man with our blades. Just before we reached him, however, he vanished, turning to disappear from sight. Keirran and I spun together, weapons raised, looking around for our hair-thin attacker.
“Annwyl, Kenzie!” Keirran called as we turned in a wary circle. “Get back! Put something behind you—”
A flash of silver, almost too quick to be seen, stabbed between us, and Keirran’s warning melted into a cry of pain. Blood misted on the air, and the prince staggered back, clutching his arm. I whirled, slashing the air beside him, but the blade whooshed through empty space, striking nothing.
“Not there, Ethan Chase,” sang a voice, and something whapped my bare arm. I yelped, flinching back, seeing the razor edge of the Thin Man vanish into invisibility again. Razor buzzed furiously.
“Bad man!” he cried as Keirran pressed close, protecting my side. “Bad man cheats! Cheater, cheater!”
My arm stung. I spared it a quick glance, seeing a thin line of red slashed across my forearm but no blood. The faery must’ve hit me with the flat of the blade instead of the cutting edge, which meant he was toying with us. I swore under my breath and turned, weapons ready for the next attack.
It came from behind me, slashing across my back, leaving a blazing streak of fire down my shoulders. I roared a curse and spun, lashing out wildly, hitting empty air, of course. Keirran turned, too, and the point of the silver blade sank deep into his shoulder, making him gasp.
“No!”
The cry came from Annwyl. The Summer faery stepped away from the tree, eyes flashing. A rush of wind surrounded us, tossing leaves, twigs, dust and grass, spinning it into a miniature cyclone. Squinting through the wind, I saw a twig bounce off something in midair, saw several leaves and blades of grass sticking to an invisible wall, and lashed out wildly.
I felt the tip bite into something solid, and a howl of pain rang out as the whirlwind flickered and died. The Thin Man appeared briefly, holding his wrist. He wasn’t looking at me.
“I was wondering what that thing around your neck did, my dear,” he said, gazing at Annwyl. “You’ve become quite the little Forgotten yourself, haven’t you? Draining the magic of others to live. And you don’t even realize who it is you’re killing.”
“What?” Annwyl paled and looked at Keirran. The prince had fallen to one knee, the brightness of his hair faded. Annwyl gasped, and the Thin Man smiled, before he vanished again.
“Annwyl, stay back!” Keirran called, pushing himself to his feet as I stepped up to protect his open side, glaring around the clearing. The glade appeared empty, but I knew the Thin Man was out there, waiting to strike. Dammit, where was the sneaky bastard?
“I don’t see him,” Keirran muttered at my back. “This isn’t working, Ethan. We can’t keep this up forever. He’s just toying with us.”
“I know.”
“Ethan, Keirran!” Kenzie’s voice rang over the glade. “Don’t stand together. Spread out a little! You’re both looking at him from the same angle, which is exactly what he wants. If he faces you straight on, you can’t see him! Move around! Catch him from the side!”
“Clever girl,” hissed the Thin Man, appearing right in front of Kenzie, blade drawn back, and my heart gave a violent lurch. “Perhaps too clever. Be silent, now.”
My world froze as the faery stabbed toward Kenzie, who flinched away.
A ripple of darkness flashed between them, that same shadow I’d seen once before when Kenzie was in danger, springing up to deflect the killing blow. It knocked the Thin Man’s blade aside, and the faery drew back in astonishment. I was halfway across the glen, sword raised to cut the spindly fey in half, when he vanished once more.
“Dammit!” Reaching Kenzie, I grabbed her arm, my heart still pounding. “Are you all right?”
She pushed at me. “Don’t stand here, Ethan! Spread out. The more we’re clumped together, the harder it is to see him.” She looked at the Summer faery and pointed. “Annwyl, go to the other side of the clearing. Keirran, you and Ethan keep moving around. We have to come at him from all angles.”
I nodded and headed back toward Keirran, circling around instead of taking the direct path. As I did, the spindly form of the Thin Man appeared behind him, sword raised high, though it was obvious the prince couldn’t see him. “Keirran, behind you! Twelve o’clock!”
He spun, blocking with his sword, and the faery’s blade screeched off the metal. With a hiss, the Thin Man turned toward me and vanished. I cursed and backed away, raising my weapons. “I can’t see him! Where is he?”
“Coming right at you, Ethan,” Annwyl called from the side. “High left...now!”
I swung blindly and felt my blade connect. At the same time, Keirran lunged in from another angle and drove his sword into the air in front of me. There was a thin, painful wail, and several silvery drops spattered to the ground.